Idioms
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie Once upon a time, there was a juvenile boy living on a cozy little farm with his family in a faraway village out in the countryside. While no one in that quaint hamlet could be called rich, there was no one left wanting either, and the all humble village folk worked together to make sure that each mouth was fed and that everyone had a roof over their head. But that all changed one day when a nobleman laid claim to the land and decided to set up a grand estate amongst the village's much more modest abodes. He proclaimed that his opulent manor was a symbol of hope in the hinterlands, but nobody else seemed to see it as such. As it so happened, the nobleman had a son who was the same age as the aforementioned village boy and shortly after the construction was completed, he invited the village boy over for an afternoon of conversation and play. While in the luxurious manor, the village boy was introduced to the wonders of civilization that he had neither seen nor heard of before, intricate and ornate baubles lining the tables and shelves of the parlor and myriads of halls, gorgeous paintings that divinely danced and sang to his passing fascination, and, most marvelously of all, arcane puzzle boxes which entertained his and the noble boy's fancy as nobleman's golden retriever chewed upon a silvery bone at their feet. After enjoying the most lavish meal of his life adorned with fine veal and exotic fruits, it was with great reluctance that the village boy bid his gracious host adieu and returned to his family's farm. As dusk fell, the boy lamented that now village appeared to him to be such a dreary place full of mundane people leading weary lives. If you make an ass of yourself, don't be surprised if somebody takes you for a ride Once upon a time, there was a young boy at a wizarding school who, despite his formidable prowess, was exceptionally lazy and would always find the most innovative methods of shirking from his chores. Once every week, he was to animate the mops and brooms to the clean the nigh endless stretch of floors of the wizarding school's ever-winding halls, a task which he dreaded like no other. In order to avoid a day of such dreary drudgery, he concocted a plan to brew two potions, the first of which could transform a man into a donkey and the second of which could morph a donkey into a man. When the morning of his chore arrived, the boy quaffed the first of these potions to become a donkey and left the other hidden beneath his bed. When the time came for the groundskeeper to come to the boy's room to deliver the mops and brooms, the man saw no boy, only a donkey, whom he chased out of the building. The jubilant donkey boy began to enjoy the remainder of the day in idle revelry, basking in the sun, grazing on the finely trimmed hedges, and merrily whinnying along to the songs of the birds. As his lazy day dragged on, he grew more and more naughty and began to pull pranks on his young peers: spitting into their carefully crafted potions, neighing into their ears as they sat in silent meditation, and bucking at their hissing feline familiars; it could be said that this obstinate donkey boy was essentially making an ass of himself, all the while the school's astute headmaster watched from his tower, suspecting that mischief was afoot. As it so happened, a grizzled knight in silver armor came marching to the school with a crippled horse limping at his side, requesting an audience with the headmaster. The humble knight explained that he was on a quest to slay a mighty dragon, but he had just been ambushed by a band of kobolds on the road, and while he had escaped from the encounter unscathed, his noble steed had not been quite so fortunate and he was in dire need of a new mount for his upcoming battle. The headmaster explained that while they had no horses, they did have a rather unruly donkey on the campus that the knight may take along for his arduous journey. The knight thanked the headmaster and reined in the hapless donkey boy, who bucked in protest with all his strength, but to no avail, as the veteran knight was experienced in handling such ornery beasts. Defeated and dejected, the crestfallen donkey boy reluctantly allowed the heavily armored knight to saddle up, letting out a bewildered gasp as he bore the full weight of the knight on his back. The chortling headmaster handed the knight a familiar potion with instructions to give it to the donkey once the battle was done, and with that, he waved them off as they rode in the direction of the dragon's lair. The moral of the story is as follows: if you make an ass of yourself, don't be surprised if somebody takes you for a ride. Happy is the man who learns from the mistakes of others Holding onto Anger is like Drinking Poison and Expecting the Other Person to Die Be wary of adversaries who come bearing gifts Take responsibility for your actions Treat others as you want to be treated Courage is not the absence of fear but the power to act in spite of it Overconfidence is an insidious killer Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends If it seems too good to be true, it probably is We cannot waste our lives waiting for the storm to pass, we must learn to work in the rain Life is a marathon, not a dash Play the hand you're dealt You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can always control how you react. The price is whatever one is willing to pay Crocodile's tears and goblin's truths